The Labor Day weekend is here, marking the unofficial end of summer. I hope you have enjoyed your summer reading! If you’re looking for something new to read, check out the list of nonfiction books for September. As I mentioned in my earlier post, there are a lot of books hitting the shelf next month. Make sure to place your holds today. Happy reading everyone!
The Kent District Library will be closed Monday, September 1, for Labor Day. We will resume normal operating hours on Tuesday, September 2. For additional 2008 holiday closing information, please view our holiday closings page.
The East Grand Rapids branch of KDL is the proud winner of the 2008 Silver Townie Award for Best Library from On-the-Town magazine. The Townie Awards are an annual readers’ poll conducted by On-the-Town.
Readers from all over West Michigan voted in the 2008 Townies, electing the East Grand Rapids library one of the best in the region!
Thank you for your support of the Kent District Library and don’t forget to vote for your favorite KDL branch next year! Look for a ballot in On-the-Town magazine this spring.
If, like me, you have never heard of LARPing (Live Action Role-Playing) then you should check out Darkon or Monster Camp!
Darkon follows the real-life adventures of an unusual group of weekend ‘warrior knights,’ fantasy role-playing gamers whose live action battleground is modern-day Baltimore, Maryland, re-imagined as a make-believe medieval world named Darkon.
Monster Camp features NERO Seattle, a gaming community with thousands of members. The gamers dress and act out the role of their favorite character from the game World of Warcraft.
Any thoughts about LARPing? Do you know any LARPers?
September is Healthy Aging Month!
To celebrate healthy aging, several Kent County organizations, including the Kent District Library, are working together to promote programs, classes, workshops and other events that can be enjoyed by adults ages 50 and over. Healthy Aging Month promotes physical, mental, social and spiritual health in aging. A full calendar of programs throughout the county is available for September.
Adults of all ages are welcome at the KDL-sponsored programs, but Healthy Aging Month participants can enter a prize drawing by attending one of the following programs:
Free Fall Film Festival Featuring Films from the 40s and 50s
Wyoming branch
Thursday, September 11 – 1:00 p.m.
Crafts and Conversation
East Grand Rapids branch
Thursday, September 11 – 6:30 p.m.
Visit with Author John Otterbacher
East Grand Rapids branch
Tuesday, September 16 – 7:30 p.m.
Feng Shui in the Garden
Sand Lake/Nelson Twp. branch
Monday, September 22 – 6:30 p.m.
Healthy Aging Month in Kent County is brought to you by the Forest Hills Senior Center, Grand Rapids Community College Older Learner Center, Kent District Library, Priority Health, Salvation Army, Senior Neighbors, Spectrum Health Healthier Communities, and United Methodist Community House.
Are you a parent or caregiver of children ages birth to six years? Then you are invited to the Early Childhood Essentials workshop series at the Kent District Library. If you have young children, or if you work in child care and need professional development hours, the Early Childhood Essentials series will provide you with valuable information. Certificates will be provided for professional development hours.
Four KDL branches will offer one hour-long workshop per month in the fall, covering a variety of helpful topics.
Early Childhood Essentials workshops will include:
Byron Township Branch
Monday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m. – Play-Grow-Read Early Literacy Training
Monday, October 6 at 6:30 p.m. – Movement: It’s Important for Children
Tuesday, November 18 at 6:30 p.m. – Nursery Rhymes with Children
East Grand Rapids Branch
Tuesday, September 16 at 6:30 p.m. – Early Literacy Crafts
Tuesday, October 14 at 6:30 p.m. – Movement: It’s Important for Children
Tuesday, November 11 at 6:30 p.m. – Early Childhood Nutrition
Kentwood Branch
Tuesday, September 23 at 6:30 p.m. – Play-Grow-Read Early Literacy Training
Tuesday, October 28 at 6:30 p.m. – Music and Movement
Tuesday, November 25 at 6:30 p.m. – Great Books and Library Services
Plainfield Township Branch
Tuesday, September 16 at 6:45 p.m. – Play-Grow-Read Early Literacy Training
Tuesday, October 21 at 6:45 p.m. – Early Childhood Nutrition
Wednesday, November 12 at 6:45 p.m. – Music and Movement
To register, please visit www.kdl.org/events or call the branch you are interested in attending.
The Thumbs Up! Award is chosen each year by Michigan librarians and teens. The winner for 2008 is Evolution, Me, & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande.
One of the honor books and teen vote winner is Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. The other honor books are Don’t Call Me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Freak Show by James St. James.
Check out lists of past winners and our bookmark highlighting the Top Twenty books. The chance to vote for the next Thumbs Up! Award will be in early 2009, so get ready to choose your favorites from this year!
Summer is ending, kids are back in school, and now you will have the chance to relax! What better way to do that than with a good book to read. At this time you might want to start a new series, or just pick up a few good ones to enjoy.
One of my favorites to enjoy is “A New Leash on Life”,
by Emily Carmichael, which is part of the Corgi Series. This is an animal romance series that highlights a group of friends and their pets in each book. It is a lighthearted and enjoyable read!
To have the whole afternoon to read, be sure to prepare meals in advance from “You’ve Got it Made”, by Diane Phillips. Of course, the kids will enjoy work from “Cookies, Brownies & Bars”, by Elinor Klivans, when they come home tired and hungry.
We hope you enjoy all the resouces your library has to offer for an enjoyable afternoon!
Kent District Library is proud be a sponsor of the 2008 Bagel Beanery Grand Rapids Kids Marathon, being held Saturday, October 18, at 1:00pm.
Hey, kids — are you interested in running this race? Register online, then pick up a free logbook at your local library (or download one here). Try to run or walk one mile with a parent or family member three times each week until you accumulate 25 miles. Registration deadline is August 31st.
By race weekend, you’ll be ready to run or walk the last 1.2 miles on the official race course of the Grand Rapids Marathon. All registered runners will receive an official race bib and t-shirt, and finishers will receive a medal and certificate. All participants will be eligible for post-race refreshments. And be sure to say ‘hi’ to Katie L., the Kent District Libray mascot!
Need some tips to get started? Check out the training tips on the Kids Marathon website, or look for these great Kids Fitness & Nutrition books at your local library!
What would you do if you were born with the ability to kill with your bare hands? Katsa is a Graceling but didn’t discover what her Grace, or gift, was until she accidentally killed a man when she was only 8 years old. Her uncle, King Randa, allowed her to be trained to control her gift so that he could use her as an enforcer. Katsa eventually finds a better way to use her Grace without the King’s knowledge, but will she be able to stop her uncle from sending her to kill and intimidate those who oppose his will? And if she is free, how can she find her way in a world that is suspicious of Gracelings and where many fear her name alone?
I enjoyed this fantasy book and found Katsa to be a very strong female character much like the wonderful characters in Tamora Pierce’s books. The setting, in the land of the Seven Kingdoms, seems like a wonderful new world to create future stories surrounding different Gracelings, so I am hoping for this to become a series of books. I also love the cover art and would have picked it up on that attribute alone!
To find out what it means to be a Graceling and if Katsa finds the true meaning of her own Grace, reserve Graceling by first-time author Kristin Cashore, to be released October 1st!
